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Introduction
St Philomena’s School is a hugely successful, Catholic, non-selective, comprehensive girls’ school for students aged 11-18 years. It is a very popular, over-subscribed school and it is impossible to say if and when vacancies may arise since this is reliant on other students leaving the year groups and this doesn’t happen very often.
For Year 7 to 11, St Philomena’s School admits students without regard to aptitude or ability. The school exists primarily to serve the Catholic community and Catholic children always have priority of admission, although the Governing Body welcomes all applications, including those from other denominations and faiths, who support the Catholic ethos of the school.
Candidates on In-Year waiting lists are ranked in accordance with the Admissions Policy of the academic year.
There are waiting lists for every year group in Key Stages 3 and 4 (Years 7 to 11). A full explanation of how to make an In-Year (Mid-Term) application for Years 7 to 11 follows, together with an explanation of how the waiting lists are ranked. Information is also given below for families who are re-locating to the UK from overseas.
All In-Year applications must be verified by Sutton Local Authority.
Information regarding In-Year admissions and the application form to use is located on the Sutton Admissions website
Sutton Admissions can be contacted on: 020 8770 5000; suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk.
Candidates who have made a valid application for an In-Year place at St Philomena’s School will be added to the relevant year group waiting list in ranked order.
In the event of a vacancy arising, a place will be offered by the school to the Candidate at the top of the relevant waiting list.
The Process of Applying for an In-Year place in Years 7 to 11; academic year 2025-2026
There are two steps to making an In-Year application for a place in Years 7 to 11.
Step 1. Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application Form is a Local Authority form which must be completed and submitted directly to Sutton Local Authority by those seeking In-Year admission to St Philomena’s School. This form should not be sent to St Philomena’s School.
Applications for Sutton schools will not normally be accepted more than four school weeks prior to the intended date of admission. An exception to this will be where places are requested for the beginning of the next academic year in September when applications can be made after the May half term.
If you require further information regarding the Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application Form, or a hardcopy of the form, please contact Sutton Admissions directly on 020 8770 5000; suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk.
Step 2. In addition to completing the Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application form, so that your daughter can be considered under St Philomena’s School Faith Criteria, please complete the St Philomena’s School admissions forms. These should be submitted to the school:
For the attention of the Admissions Officer, Dr Elizabeth Atkins
St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls
Shorts Road
Carshalton SM5 3PS
For Catholic Faith Applicants:
● Admissions Administration Document 2025: Please complete this form and return it to the school.
● Certificate of Catholic Practice (CCP). Practising Catholic applicants should print out and complete the CCP. Preferably, the original CCP should be posted/submitted to the School. If an original CCP cannot be provided, the applicant should retain their original and please submit a copy of the CCP to the school.
● A copy of the Candidate’s Baptism certificate should be submitted to the School if this sacrament has been received. Original certificates should NOT be submitted.
Candidates enrolled in the catechumenate:
Where the Candidate is soon to be baptised into the Catholic faith / received into the Catholic Church, evidence of enrolment in the catechumenate is required. Please request this evidence from your Catholic parish and submit this to the school.
For Applicants of Faiths other than Catholic:
● Religious Leader Form 2025: Families of faiths other than Catholic should provide evidence of the Candidate’s faith. The Religious Leader Form can be used, or the applicant can provide some other evidence of faith (eg letter from your place of worship, certificate of dedication). Evidence should be submitted to the school so that the application can be considered under the Faith Criteria of the Admissions Policy.
● Completion of the Admissions Administration Document 2025 is optional for applicants of faiths other than Catholic. The AAD can be used to supply any additional information and is useful to the school for administration purposes. This should be submitted to the school.
● In addition to the above, Eastern Christian Church applicants should also supply a copy of the Candidate’s Baptism certificate to the school if this sacrament has been received.
For Applicants not wishing to be considered under the faith criteria:
Those Applicants who do not wish their In-Year application to be considered under the Admissions Policy Faith Criteria (those who are not a member of a faith) can choose whether to complete Step 2 above and are only required to complete Step 1 (the Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application Form).
What happens next?
The London Borough of Sutton verifies the In-Year Application (using the information submitted to them in Step 1 above, and any other information they may request from Applicants). Please note that the Local Authority verification process can take time – at least 20 school days after Sutton receive your application - so please be patient.
Following Local Authority verification, the school is notified by Sutton Admissions that a valid In-Year application has been received, and then the School Governors will use the information Applicants have provided (in Step 2 above) to assess the Candidate's In-Year application. The Governors will apply the school Admissions Policy to rank the Candidate’s In-Year application correctly onto the relevant year group waiting list.
Notification of the Outcome of the In-Year Application
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application (whether a place can be offered or if the Candidate has been placed on an In-Year waiting list) usually within 10-15 school days of the school receiving Local Authority verification.* Details about the right to appeal will also be provided to Applicants at this time.
*Occasionally, the school may require additional information from the Applicant which may delay this process, especially if an out of chronological age group place has been requested (see below).
If it is not possible for the school to offer a place to the Candidate, the Applicant has the right to appeal this decision. The Applicant should follow the guidance given in their outcome letter; the Applicant must set out their grounds for appeal in writing.
How are the waiting lists ranked?
There are different admissions criteria (see the Admissions Policy for the year of application). In order to rank applications correctly onto each year group waiting list, each application is firstly given a criterion in accordance with the Admissions Policy, and then, within each criterion, Candidates are also ranked according to distance from the school. Distances are calculated by Sutton Local Authority.
Applications from Overseas
The school often receives applications from families who are relocating to the UK from overseas. If this applies to you, please be aware that Sutton Admissions will require proof that the student will be moving to the United Kingdom, as specified in the ‘Guidance relating to the Admission of Children from Overseas’. The Local Authority will accept an application a maximum of four weeks in advance of an applicant arriving in the United Kingdom, provided that evidence of the forthcoming move is received by the Authority. Please note that until the Candidate has moved to the UK, the address used on the application form must be the overseas address of the candidate, even if a parent/carer has moved to Sutton in advance of the rest of the family. You cannot use a future address. The home address should be updated once the move to the UK is completed.
Please contact the Local Authority if you have any queries regarding overseas applications and check their website for up-to-date information regarding overseas applications
Sutton Local Authority website can be accessed by following this link: https://www.sutton.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-admissions
Applications outside Chronological Age Group
In general, students should be educated in their normal age group, with the curriculum differentiated as appropriate, and should only be educated out of their normal age group in very limited circumstances. Occasionally, applicants may seek a place which is outside of the normal age group of the candidate, for example, if the student has experienced problems such as ill health. The view of the Department for Education (DfE) is that Covid19 related issues should not be a reason to request delayed admission, nor should adjusting to the UK and language for those arriving from overseas.
Department for Education (DfE) guidance states that, ‘The government would agree that, in general, children should be educated in their normal age group, with the curriculum differentiated as appropriate, and that they should only be educated out of their normal age group in very limited circumstances’. In accordance with the Schools Admissions Code 2021, parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group.
Where applications outside of chronological age group are made, parents/carers should provide supporting documentation to the school at the time of application, specifying why admission out of normal age group is being requested, including details of how long a child may have been studying out of year group if applicable.
The Governors will review each request for admissions out of normal age group and make decisions on whether the request to study outside of chronological age group can be accepted on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned. This will include taking account of the parents’/carers’ views; information about the child’s academic, social and emotional development; where relevant, their medical history and the views of a medical professional; whether they have previously been educated out of their normal age group; and whether they may naturally have fallen into a lower age group if it were not for being born prematurely. They will also take into account the views of the Headteacher of St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls. When informing a parent/carer of their decision on the year group the child should be admitted to, the Governors will set out clearly the reasons for their decision. As stated in the Schools Admissions Code 2021, parents have a statutory right to appeal against the refusal of a place at a school for which they have applied. This right does not apply if they are offered a place at the school, but it is not in their preferred age group.
Maintenance of the In-Year Waiting Lists
In-Year waiting lists are maintained until the end of each academic year. The Governors are required to provide the Local Authority with up-to-date waiting lists for the following academic year containing only those Candidates who wish to take up a place at St Philomena’s School in the event of a vacancy arising. Therefore, towards the end of each academic year, the waiting lists are revised. All those on the waiting lists are written to and asked to respond to the school by a given date, advising whether the Candidate wishes to remain on the waiting list for a further academic year. If no response is received by the school, the Candidate will be removed from the In-Year waiting list. Please ensure that the school is advised if your contact details change.
In addition to the above annual waiting list revisions, the Year 7 waiting list is initially maintained until 31st December. In the Autumn term, Year 7 Applicants will be contacted as above and asked whether they wish the Candidate to remain on the waiting list until the end of the academic year. The Year 7 waiting list is then revised based on Applicant responses.
Sutton Local Authority In-Year Secondary Application Form
Admissions Administration Document 2025
Certificate of Catholic Practice
If you require a hardcopy of the In-Year application information:
You must contact Sutton Admissions if you are unable to complete the online In-Year application information. Hardcopies of the school admissions forms are available on request from the school. Please contact St Philomena’s School Admissions Officer, Dr Elizabeth Atkins: admissions@stphils.org.uk; 020 8642 2025 ext. Admissions.
Sutton Admissions can be contacted on: 020 8770 5000; suttonadmissions@cognus.org.uk.
St Philomena’s School admissions forms should be submitted to the school:
For the attention of the Admissions Officer, Dr Elizabeth Atkins
St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls
Shorts Road
Carshalton SM5 3PS
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